


hand in unlovable hand

by jodeldiplom



Category: Bridgerton (TV)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, also class issues & various forms of love, also fake british english, and the gentry wears gloves so they're able to lie about them, canon daddy issues, discussions of fated vs intentional love, i kept in book!simon's stutter because it made me soft, i'm really just doing bridgerton except i have an excuse to emphasize period drama hand touches, in which the soulmarks are on people's hands, massive hands kink in case you couldn't tell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28490415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jodeldiplom/pseuds/jodeldiplom
Summary: There are three fundamental truths that pertain to the phenomenon of the Soulmark: firstly, not everyone is blessed with it; secondly, a Soulmate is defined by being the most influential person in your life, which is often a romantic partner but not necessarily so; and thirdly, the appearing words are either the first or the last ones that a Soulmate will say to you.There are three fundamental truths that pertain to Simon’s Soulmark: firstly, he does not want it; secondly, his father was decidedly not his Soulmate; and thirdly, his father has never asked for Simon’s forgiveness.Now he is dead, and Simon has sworn to let the Hastings line die with him. He wears black gloves and a fist balled around a useless word.
Relationships: Daphne Bridgerton/Simon Basset
Comments: 36
Kudos: 255





	hand in unlovable hand

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! This chapter is shorter than I'd like but I had an Idea and wanted to manifest it before I lost the courage to do it.

**Forgiveness – the act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven.**

_June 1801_

Later than it is proper, Simon’s Soulmark appears when he is twelve years old. It startles him awake more than it hurts him, the remnants of hot pain almost gone when he is roused from his sleep. He jolts upright and stares at his palm, where two words are now completing themselves in a most elegant, lavender flourish:

_forgive me_

Simon stares at the words, furiously rubs the sleep from his eyes, then focuses his gaze again. It is futile, because the words stubbornly remain, bright against his skin.

The instant rush of joy brings Simon to his feet, hurriedly throwing on his clothes, practically falling down the lavish stairway, down into a morning parlour where Lady Danbury sits and reads the newspaper.

“Mister Basset!”, she exclaims as he skids to a halt only a few inches before he would have otherwise knocked the teacup straight from her hands. “It is far too early for such chaos!”

Instead of answering, Simon opens his sweaty fist and presents the Soulmark to her. Lady Danbury takes his palm with careful hands and turns it towards the sunlight. “Forgive me”, she slowly reads out loud. “How very interesting.”

“We should call for a carriage right away”, Simon says fluently, determination easily wiping away his usual stutter. “To go to London, to see Father.”

Lady Danbury fixes her eyes on him, then gives a slow nod. “It is time, is it not?”

“Yes!”

“Then we shall do so. Ring Mister Danvers, and remember to pack a few things to keep you entertaining during our journey. And I plan on paying a few of our friends a visit while we are in town.”

Simon’s excitement is infectious. For more than a year he has been waiting for this day to come, all while pursuing his studies with ambition, tirelessly working on his speech impediment; and now he feels prepared, very grown up, in a word: thoroughly ready to face his father with confidence. His clothes are quickly packed, his current reading material thrown in. Simon storms outside even before Mister Danvers can properly open the carriage door for Lady Danbury and him.

“At this pace we should make you run along with the carriage and bet on who will arrive in London first.” His godmother’s everlasting dimples deepen. “Oh! In all this flurry I almost forgot the most important thing, how silly of me.” From Mister Danvers’ reliable hands she retrieves a small lacquered box and places it in Simon’s. “Happy Marking Day, my dearest boy.”

The present is custom and therefore no surprise, but it makes Simon still in awe nonetheless. The box contains a pair of elegantly sown gloves, fashioned in traditional green silk. He slips them on with unusual gravitas; he feels, and knows in his heart, that he is now covering up a very essential part of his very being.

Simon knows all about the Soulmark. He has been studying them ever since he has failed to produce one on his tenth birthday and thereby made his father furiously depart the family estate, already upset with Simon’s slight stutter. It did not matter that Simon has a bigger vocabulary than most young gentlemen his age, or that his stutter really only returns whenever his father turns that piercing gaze on him. To the Duke of Hastings, that was only further proof that his only heir had been deficient since birth. The possibility of having to hand the title to an Unmarked son let him declare that Simon was not to darken his doorstep before he had been Marked, for however long that would take.

Simon has not seen his father for two years now. It is time to prove that he has been successful after all.

He cannot keep the bright, nervous smile off his face during the whole journey to London. Meanwhile, Lady Danbury cannot help herself, she worries about the boy. She has been a witness to Simon’s Herculean efforts for much longer than his actual father; and what is maybe more important, she knows his father much better than he does.

***

The butler does not know that the Duke of Hastings has a still living son. This realisation causes Lady Danbury to swear like a sailor, and it makes Simon’s jaw tighten and clench. His tongue feels heavy and graceless from anger. It keeps him silent when the Duke yanks him closer and the fine gloves off his hands.

“ _Forgive me_ ”, the Duke mocks him, then drops his hand like a wet cloth. “I am not in the very least surprised. After all, you are an imbecile. You are sure to offend wherever you go.”

“Hastings!”

“Danbury.” The Duke’s arrogant eyes scrutinise her from head to toe. “My son is much behind his peers – first the stuttering, now the Soulmark. Too late, much too late. I blame his natural disposition that he got from his mother, may God rest her poor soul, but your teaching must be responsible for it to some extent. This too is no surprise at all.”

“I love Simon with all my heart, you despicable man!”

“Well, that is a very pretty sentiment, but ultimately hot air. He needs to work much harder in order to conceal his deficiencies, and I am too busy to watch him struggle. I trust that he will at least keep applying himself in Eton, that is the very minimum he can do if not to embarrass me.” The Duke unceremoniously throws Simon’s gloves onto the desk. “Don’t forget these, boy.”

Simon’s hurt and anger sit at the base of his throat. His damned tongue is far too clumsy to let the right words pass through.

***

_June 1813_

There are three fundamental truths that pertain to the phenomenon of the Soulmark: firstly, not everyone is blessed with it; secondly, a Soulmate is defined by being the most influential person in your life, which is often a romantic partner but not necessarily so; and thirdly, the appearing words are either the first or the last ones that a Soulmate will say to you.

There are three fundamental truths that pertain to Simon’s Soulmark: firstly, he does not want it; secondly, his father was decidedly not his Soulmate; and thirdly, his father has never asked for Simon’s forgiveness. Now he is dead, and Simon has sworn to let the Hastings line die with him. He wears black gloves and a fist balled around a useless word.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been writing for many, many months, but I'd like to change that this year, at least in baby steps. Please let me know what you think! And oh, since I'm literally just rolling with it at this point, I'm super open to ideas, headcanons, or just gay keysmashes. I do love a good keysmash.


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